WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Record crowd gets behind Oakland, but Michigan State dominates WITH VIDEO

ROCHESTER -- Oakland got a holiday gift Wednesday, as the largest women's basketball crowd in O'rena history turned out to see the Golden Grizzlies take on Michigan State. But that was the only present they would receive in a 75-43 loss.

Oakland kept the game within 12 after the first half and continued to fight an ultimately insurmountable deficit, trailing by as many as 33 late in the game.

"I complimented them in the locker room," Oakland coach Beckie Francis said. "I said 'I'm not mad. You never stopped hustling and you fought' and there were some areas we got exposed. I told them 'this is why we schedule tough non-league teams, to see what our weaknesses are so we can prepare for conference play.' "

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Oakland's Zakiya Minifee, who made her second consecutive start, and Victoria Lipscomb, were playing for more of a home crowd than usual. The Golden Grizzlies' veterans both played for East Lansing High School.

Lipscomb led the Golden Grizzlies with 11 points and played all 40 minutes after logging 58 in a four-overtime victory over Western Michigan Saturday. She's averaging more than 39 minutes per game, but isn't showing any signs of slowing down.

"Going into it, I didn't want to do too much," she said. "I just wanted to let the game come to me and really just go out there and enjoy the moment and give Michigan State some competition.

"I was so happy just to look around (and see the crowd). It was just a great environment."

Freshman Elena Popkey added nine points and five rebounds in her eighth start in as many games in her Oakland career.

"(Michigan) State is a big name, but you just have to go out there with a big heart and play hard," she said.

Elizabeth Hamlet contributed seven points for Oakland (5-3) and freshman Olivia Nash had six points and four rebounds.

Klarissa Bell paced four Spartans in double figures with 16 points and nine rebounds and Annalise Pickrel added 14 points for the Spartans (8-0), who are off to their best start in program history. Becca Mills and Jasmine Thomas each had 10 points.

After the Golden Grizzlies pulled within 10 in the closing seconds of the first thalf, the Spartans' Annalise Pickrel hit a jumper on an inbounds pass just before the halftime buzzer sounded. Michigan State carried a 32-20 advantage into the break.

The Spartans led by as many as 16 in the first half and quickly reached that margin early in the second and their lead maxed out at 33 points late in the contest. After leading the entirety of Wednesday's game, Michigan State has not trailed in nearly 200 consecutive minutes of play this season.

The Spartans lead the Big Ten in several statistical categories, and they showed why Wednesday, holding Oakland to its lowest output of the early season. Michigan State outrebounded Oakland, 43-20, and held the Grizzlies to just 32-percent (17 of 53) shooting, while shooting 57 percent (33 of 58) itself.

"It was almost another level of defense than what we've seen this season," Lipscomb said. "We know some of our shots were there, but we just hesitated a little bit. We have to take open shots when we have them and keep moving and cutting harder."

Michigan State outscored Oakland, 38-14, in the paint, and when the Grizzlies tried to take away that avenue, the Spartans were hitting their shots.

"They had an incredible inside-out game," Francis said. "They had an unbelievable shooting percentage on the block. We didn't really have any answer for that.

"When we shut that down for a spell, they hit some 3s."

Oakland hasn't beaten Michigan State since a 76-57 win Feb. 6, 1982, and there have only been five meetings since. The Spartans now lead the all-time series, 9-4, and the 32-point differential was the largest margin of victory in the series.

Oakland played its eighth game of the season without preseason Summit League Player of the Year Bethany Watterworth (Lake Orion), who is out with an undisclosed injury suffered in the offseason. Francis said she expects to know more about Watterworth's condition in the next week.

Wednesday's attendance of 2,635, nearly as much as Oakland's previous five home games combined, was encouraging for the Golden Grizzlies.

"(The environment) was incredible," Francis said. "It felt like the attendance for a men's game. It was awesome."

Popkey and Lipscomb shared their coach's sentiment about the record turnout.

"It was like a sixth man for us," Popkey said. "It's great to have that support.

"No matter what the score was, they were still there cheering for us until the end and it really made a difference. It helped our team hustle."

-- Former Birmingham Detroit Country Day standouts Madison Williams (knee) and Aerial Powers (ankle) will be out of the Spartans' lineup for the remainder of the season.

Williams, the 2010 Gatorade high school player of the year and McDonald's All-American, is out after partially tearing her left ACL. The red-shirt sophomore missed all but three games last season after injuring the same knee and missed the entire 2010-11 season after tearing the ACL in her right knee.

Powers, a freshman and two-time Class B Player of the Year, tore her Achilles tendon in practice in late October.

-- Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant, in her sixth season with the Spartans, was an Oakland assistant coach from 1992-95.